How I Find Keywords that Drive Leads

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Hey hey,

When doing keyword research, is your first step to open a tool? That's mistake #1.

Keyword research is a process. Do it in the right order, and it tells you exactly what to write, for whom, and at what stage of the funnel.

Mix up the steps, and you end up chasing keywords your ICP never sees. Even with great content.

Copy this 7-step keyword research process I run across 50+ companies:

1/ Brainstorm Like Your ICP

Before you touch a tool, write down every phrase your ideal customer would type into Google. Use their language. Aim for 10 to 20 seed terms.

This list is your starting point for everything that follows.

2/ Analyze KD & Volume

Open Ahrefs, Semrush, or Google Keyword Planner. Check keyword difficulty and monthly search volume for each seed term.

A rough guide: Target under 30 KD if your site is newer, up to 50 if you have some authority built. And don't dismiss low-volume terms. 200 searches/month from the right person beats 2,000 from the wrong one.

3/ Look at "Suggested" Keywords

Every tool surfaces related keywords you'd never think to search yourself. These come from what real users type before and after your seed term. This step consistently surfaces angles we'd never find through brainstorming or competitor research alone. Don't skip it.

Keyword research finds you the right terms. But right terms alone don't fill your pipeline.

Download our free guide to learn how to turn SEO into a lead generation engine.

4/ Steal From Your Competitors

Drop a competitor's URL into Ahrefs or Semrush and look at their top-ranking pages, specifically the ones sitting at positions 4 to 15.

The top 3 are often locked up by high-authority domains that are nearly impossible to displace. Four through fifteen have already proven the keyword drives clicks AND they're beatable.

Filter by keywords you don't currently rank for, and you get a prioritized content roadmap built from someone else's research.

5/ Shortlist 100+ Keywords

Track everything in a spreadsheet: Keyword, volume, KD, intent, priority. But don't filter yet. Build to 100+ before you cut anything. 

6/ Label Intent & Prioritize

Sort every keyword into three buckets: BOFU (ready to buy), MOFU (comparing options), TOFU (just learning).

Most SEOs default to TOFU because it's easier to write. I go right after BOFU. One well-written BOFU page consistently outperforms in terms of actual leads and pipeline.

7/ Repeat Quarterly

This isn't a one-time task. Block 2 hours every quarter and run it again. Algorithm shifts, new competitor content, and seasonal demand all change what's winnable.

Terms that were a stretch six months ago may now be realistic. New BOFU opportunities surface constantly if you're looking for them.

SEO performance boils down to targeting terms your ICP searches.

When an SEO program isn’t working, I check the keyword list first.

You can write better content or publish more frequently, but if your ideal customer never searches the terms you’re targeting, it’s as good as if you published nothing.

They don’t see you.

Get the keywords right first. The brief, the outline, the structure, the CTA…all of it gets sharper when you know exactly who's searching and why.

Want this process run on your site by a team that’s done it across 50+ B2B and SaaS brands? Let’s talk.

Stay savvy,

Connor

Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

1. My SEO Course: “The SEO System” teaches the exact daily, weekly, and monthly SEO processes I’ve used to scale multiple companies to 6, 7, & 8 figures in sales. Available for pre-sale now!

2. TrioSEO: Hire me & my team to create SEO content for your business. We’ll create a comprehensive SEO plan, execute, & keep you updated so your business gains more traffic, leads, & sales. Get a Free SEO Audit.

3. Promote yourself to 100,000+ SEOs, marketers, & entrepreneurs by sponsoring this newsletter and my social channels. (Booked out 1 month). Email me for info.

Connor Gillivan has been building six, seven, and eight-figure businesses for the past 10 years with SEO. It’s my personal mission to create a community and services that help you grow your business by finding more people who would benefit from what you. When I started out, I wanted to make the community an inclusive, welcoming table where everyone can come to get help using high-end SEO strategies to take their businesses to the next level. After several years, and over 3000 combined followers across Facebook and LinkedIn, I will always aim to get better at what I do every single day. In addition, my primary focus is on my relationship with you. This way every time you interact with me, you end up getting ideas that take your project to the next level. I particularly appreciate when my following provides feedback via testimonials, reviews, and comments left on my site or social media accounts. Because with that feedback, I can use it to make your next experience even better than the last. Since I put so much effort into my relationship with you, I hope that any investment in me is exactly the way you hoped it would be. Because by choosing to utilize my services, it’s my promise that I will provide an experience that you will love over and over again. Now, as much as I care about making the world a better and more efficient place for businesses like yours, I also care about your privacy. I’m committed to the right to your privacy and strive to provide a safe and secure user experience. My Privacy Policy, to which you can find a link at the bottom of my website homepage, explains how I collect, store and use personal information, provided by you on my website. It also explains important information that ensures I won’t abuse the information that you provide to me in good faith. By accessing and using my website, you can trust that what you want to be kept private, will be kept private. If at any time you would like to read the Privacy Policy and get a better understanding of your rights and liabilities under the law, feel free to visit my site, find the privacy policy in the footer, and read it. If there is something you are concerned about or wish to get more clarity on, please let me know by replying to this email. The Privacy Policy also informs you of how to notify me to stop using your personal information. If you wish to view my official policies, please visit my official website.

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